How to say "No"....
...in a professional manner to people who come up and ask to sing/play with the piano player/band . as a leader, it's easy to say you'll need to ask the bride/groom (or who ever is paying) if it's ok. and if they say it's ok, how do you stop it from snowballing into a karaoke event?
horror story #1: company christmas party playing as a sub...girl want to sing ave maria..i say no, sorry, don't know it...she says she has music..said yes figuring i could fake it as long as i had chord symbols...wrong, she whips out several horrible photo copy pages of original sheet music (no chord symbols and i don't read bass clef that well)..too late to turn back...gave up trying to read it and tried to keep up with her...fianlly gave up and just started playing the changes to unchained melody until she stopped singing...vary nasty stares from the singer...
horror story #2: bride and groom warn us of their uncle who brings his clarinet to every family function. he sat in on our jazz trio and actually played very well...crowd loved it...great way to start the evening. came up before the last set and wanted to play some traditional tune i had never heard before..asked if he could just play it solo. now picture richard dryfuss in "once around"...does a very emotional, from the heart speech about the couple, seques into a disertation on what improvisation means to a musician then went into this 15 minute solo clarinet improvisation/dance. i apologized to the bride and groom afterwards a they (fortunately) laughed telling me 'we told you so'.
horror story #1: company christmas party playing as a sub...girl want to sing ave maria..i say no, sorry, don't know it...she says she has music..said yes figuring i could fake it as long as i had chord symbols...wrong, she whips out several horrible photo copy pages of original sheet music (no chord symbols and i don't read bass clef that well)..too late to turn back...gave up trying to read it and tried to keep up with her...fianlly gave up and just started playing the changes to unchained melody until she stopped singing...vary nasty stares from the singer...
horror story #2: bride and groom warn us of their uncle who brings his clarinet to every family function. he sat in on our jazz trio and actually played very well...crowd loved it...great way to start the evening. came up before the last set and wanted to play some traditional tune i had never heard before..asked if he could just play it solo. now picture richard dryfuss in "once around"...does a very emotional, from the heart speech about the couple, seques into a disertation on what improvisation means to a musician then went into this 15 minute solo clarinet improvisation/dance. i apologized to the bride and groom afterwards a they (fortunately) laughed telling me 'we told you so'.
There are 11 comments, leave a comment.
best way is probably up front,when finalizing the gig,just kind of casually mention the guidelines you expect to be able to rely on.a lot of this s--t is reputation-specific,i.e. if you're "one of the respected big names" in the gb game in your neck of the woods,people will of course think twice about even approaching you(although of course inwardly resenting that the drunker they get when it's time for them to get into their usual"lampshade on the head" version of "ole solo mio")...try to adopt that type of professional persona,even if at sessions you lay back and comp for all kinds of players regardless of their soloing ability........
we had a guy come up to sing "it had to be you" at a country club...and that's what he sang:
"it had to be you...it had to be you...it had to be you...it had to be you...it had to be you...it had to be you...it had to be you...it had to be you...it had to be you...it had to be you...etc"...it was actually pretty funny:)
i absolutely hate when people when these folks want to sit in....i never help them along...i'm like, you want it? you got it? i hope you know what you're doing...see it aint so easy is it?
even if they're good i hate it...i have never in my life walked up to a group that's playing and ask if i can sit in...i can't imagine why enyone else would...maybe to show off i guess..hmmm...
"it had to be you...it had to be you...it had to be you...it had to be you...it had to be you...it had to be you...it had to be you...it had to be you...it had to be you...it had to be you...etc"...it was actually pretty funny:)
i absolutely hate when people when these folks want to sit in....i never help them along...i'm like, you want it? you got it? i hope you know what you're doing...see it aint so easy is it?
even if they're good i hate it...i have never in my life walked up to a group that's playing and ask if i can sit in...i can't imagine why enyone else would...maybe to show off i guess..hmmm...
i always let people sit in on the gig, providing i personally invited them to do so :)
but when people come up out of the blue and ask to sit in, sing a song, or whatever, i pretty much always say something like, "oh, i'm sorry, it's not our policy to let people sit in." and i leave it at that- i don't explain why or why not, i don't go outside and listen to them sing to see if they can, i just tell them we don't do that. i also mention that they are welcome to do whatever they want once we have finished for the evening, though. then they can gather up their drunk friends and play chopsticks until the sun comes up.
special circumstances always prevail, though, if the bride says her brother wants to sing danny boy, who am i to say no? if the people who hired you for the gig want to turn it into something silly, that is their choice of course. you are in their service and must do what they say. the happier you make them, the more business you'll get, and if you do it right, you can have as much fun as the drunk bastards who want to sing with you.
it never hurts to down a few scotches when this sort of thing starts up :)
but when people come up out of the blue and ask to sit in, sing a song, or whatever, i pretty much always say something like, "oh, i'm sorry, it's not our policy to let people sit in." and i leave it at that- i don't explain why or why not, i don't go outside and listen to them sing to see if they can, i just tell them we don't do that. i also mention that they are welcome to do whatever they want once we have finished for the evening, though. then they can gather up their drunk friends and play chopsticks until the sun comes up.
special circumstances always prevail, though, if the bride says her brother wants to sing danny boy, who am i to say no? if the people who hired you for the gig want to turn it into something silly, that is their choice of course. you are in their service and must do what they say. the happier you make them, the more business you'll get, and if you do it right, you can have as much fun as the drunk bastards who want to sing with you.
it never hurts to down a few scotches when this sort of thing starts up :)
If I'm not back in 24 hours, call the president.
Scot is available for skype jazz piano lessons (and google hangouts, phone call, etc...)
Use the contact link at the top of the page.
Scot is available for skype jazz piano lessons (and google hangouts, phone call, etc...)
Use the contact link at the top of the page.
by Scot Ranney on 03/11/2004, 16:47
its a matter of patriotism to me.. i quote my favorite president in these circumstances .. ronald regan.... "just say no". but when the people who are actually putting the cash in your hand at the end or the gig are involved in the request consider it a rebel takeover. one of the very unfortunate neccessities of the business just like haveing to play some songs you dont like only worse.
this has reminded me of the story of wynton coming on stage to try and sit in with miles' band...
...miles told him to come back tommorow night, of course they werent playing tommorow night
...miles told him to come back tommorow night, of course they werent playing tommorow night
it can be a nightmare scenario.
was playing once at a function gig and some bloke got up to sing.
we asked him what song he wanted to do and he didn't know the title. we asked him what key it was in and he didn't know. we then asked him how fast and he didn't know that either. so then we said you start and we'll catch you up... somehow got through it but i can remember frantically trying to figure out what key he'd started in.
far better to avoid that situation altogether.
was playing once at a function gig and some bloke got up to sing.
we asked him what song he wanted to do and he didn't know the title. we asked him what key it was in and he didn't know. we then asked him how fast and he didn't know that either. so then we said you start and we'll catch you up... somehow got through it but i can remember frantically trying to figure out what key he'd started in.
far better to avoid that situation altogether.
wedding parties are usually gigs from hell. the fee has to be awfully big before i think of accepting one.
one fellow once asked the band if he could sing "life is just a bowl of cherries", but in 5/4. intrigued, the band started up. the vocalist then came in with the immortal opening line "life is just a bowl of f***ing cherries".
if you have difficulty playing in 5/4, this trick is worth a try.
sid
one fellow once asked the band if he could sing "life is just a bowl of cherries", but in 5/4. intrigued, the band started up. the vocalist then came in with the immortal opening line "life is just a bowl of f***ing cherries".
if you have difficulty playing in 5/4, this trick is worth a try.
sid
on occasion, i guess you have to give these people a break, but the way i figure it is that i don't tend to get up every morning and go down to some accountant's office and ask him if i can try to work out some of those 1099's...it really is like having people interfere with your work. :) i guess it's not that bad though...sometimes it is hilarious.
i remember this band leader i work for (a woman with huge balls) saying over the mic:
"ya know when i get drunk, i still want to be a musician"
"ya know when i get drunk, i still want to be a musician"
i just remembered a line a friend of mine uses when a drunk at country clubs comes to ask to play his horn, and he replies sure, if you let me borrow the keys to your porsche.....
once in seattle at the new orleans (one of a handful of real music clubs), jay thomas and his group were playing. it was getting late, but no one was leaving- the music held everyone like a gold magnet. so they were playing a burning tune, possibly cherokee, and jay was on his sax. just then some guy walked up on stage and started blowing his trumpet to the changes.
jay looked up, saw that it was roy hargrove who had just finished playing at jazz alley, another big seattle music club, and then jay walked off the stage while roy hargrove starting spitting notes out like pistacio shells.
roy had walked into the club with his entire group of friends, family, and freeloaders, and roy himself was decked out in gold chains and really looked like a punk as... i mean, a cool guy.
when roy was finished with his 16 chorus solo, people responded somewhat coldly as jay walked back up on stage with his trumpet. you see, jay is one of those guys... trumpet, sax, piano, it doesn't matter to him what he uses to make music. he's not that good on the piano.
he started played and after two measures you could tell jay was up to the task. his lines were new, his technique flawless, his compositional elements were all there. jay was putting everything on the floor that roy, for all the articles, festivals, recordings, and such, didn't even have a clue about.
jay played about 20 choruses and it was one of the best solos over cherokee i've heard in my life. the last five choruses were pretty damn killer- jay had the band modulate up a half step each time.
when he was done, there was no argument- roy hargrove got schooled in a big, big, way. classless that he is, roy did have enough class to stick around for jay's entire solo. after jay was over, and he brought the house down, roy left with his entire group.
roy hargove had made a fool of himself that night. all that roy and jay did to prove it was play their horns.
the only time i ever asked to play on someone's gig was after they were done doing solo piano and the girl i was with wanted to know if i really knew how to play before we took some solos together :)
jay looked up, saw that it was roy hargrove who had just finished playing at jazz alley, another big seattle music club, and then jay walked off the stage while roy hargrove starting spitting notes out like pistacio shells.
roy had walked into the club with his entire group of friends, family, and freeloaders, and roy himself was decked out in gold chains and really looked like a punk as... i mean, a cool guy.
when roy was finished with his 16 chorus solo, people responded somewhat coldly as jay walked back up on stage with his trumpet. you see, jay is one of those guys... trumpet, sax, piano, it doesn't matter to him what he uses to make music. he's not that good on the piano.
he started played and after two measures you could tell jay was up to the task. his lines were new, his technique flawless, his compositional elements were all there. jay was putting everything on the floor that roy, for all the articles, festivals, recordings, and such, didn't even have a clue about.
jay played about 20 choruses and it was one of the best solos over cherokee i've heard in my life. the last five choruses were pretty damn killer- jay had the band modulate up a half step each time.
when he was done, there was no argument- roy hargrove got schooled in a big, big, way. classless that he is, roy did have enough class to stick around for jay's entire solo. after jay was over, and he brought the house down, roy left with his entire group.
roy hargove had made a fool of himself that night. all that roy and jay did to prove it was play their horns.
the only time i ever asked to play on someone's gig was after they were done doing solo piano and the girl i was with wanted to know if i really knew how to play before we took some solos together :)
If I'm not back in 24 hours, call the president.
Scot is available for skype jazz piano lessons (and google hangouts, phone call, etc...)
Use the contact link at the top of the page.
Scot is available for skype jazz piano lessons (and google hangouts, phone call, etc...)
Use the contact link at the top of the page.
by Scot Ranney on 03/12/2004, 12:01
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